The Fundamentals of (Re)designing Writing Units

Prepare students to take on any writing challenge, including district- and state-mandated literacy tests. Perfect for teachers, curriculum designers, and literary coaches, this title provides guidance for designing new writing units and revising existing ones across content areas for grades 5–12. You’ll discover practical strategies and best practices for teaching skills in drafting, editing, revising, feedback, assessment, and student collaboration.

Examine the stages of the writing process and the benefits of teaching students to work through them.

Assess the particular importance of the feedback stage of the writing process.

Study the components and rationale of the backward-planning approach to unit design.

“Kathy Tuchman Glass’s new book is a must-read for teachers, literacy coaches, and curriculum designers who want to instill the love of writing in their students and, at the same time, increase their students’ levels of proficiency as writers. Glass has written a solid, step-by-step approach to designing or revamping writing units. As a literacy consultant, I appreciate Glass’s emphasis on backward design and the use of standards in creating writing units. In addition, students and teachers will enjoy her wealth of 21st century ideas and resources for using technology in the writing process in their classrooms. This book should be on every school’s reading list for in-house professional development!”

Dana Frazee, coauthor, Teaching Reading in the Content Areas: If Not Me, Then Who?